So tomorrow morning I'm going to fix this which is the better way to go, cut the wire and reground or do like David did and leave the old ground and add another wire to a more positive ground? I'm no electrical engineer so not sure of good or bad with either.

Thanks guy!
Brad

 

It was easier for me to cut the wire about 2" from the connector and just reground to the engine. With the experience I have from working on electronics equipment this is the route I chose. David says that the way he did his shouldn't pose a problem. I would have to trust his experience. I would suggest that you need to do it the way that will be easier for you and what you would feel most confident in.

 

Would you electrically-minded guys suggest this be done even if there are no current (pun intended) problems as a way to avoid it in the future? Or, just wait and see if it ever develops...

I'm the type that disables clutch and sidestand "safety" switches before they cause a problem out in the middle of the desert.

 

It wouldn't hurt anything to do it. Just consider it a precaution.

 

FWIW I have noticed an occasional 'cut out' problem at highway speeds with my '09. It has been very mild, and I don't always notice it.

When I get a chance, I'll try to replicate the conditions when it occurs, and if warrented, I'll try to reground the rectifier.

David R, have you had any opportunity to swap back and forth with the OEM grounding scheme and the new one, to verify that the condition returns with the OEM ground? Your setup sounds the most conducive to trying that as a test.

 

I did Davids mod this morning. I have always had a lean surge at 3/4 throttle on the road and just figured it was a tad lean.
While i was at it i jumped out the kickstand switch,,,, i was going to get a round to it someday and figured better in the garage that the trail.
Still have the lean surge so i'll lift the needle a bit when i get the new tank.
As you might have guessed by now i am pretty lazy as long as the bike is running. Ha Ha!!! I'm going to beat it up some tomorrow in the sandy muddy pines of NJ.

 

Just for understanding, I hooked up the ground like I did for 2 reasons. I have no idea where the ground going to the rec/reg comes from or goes to. If I had .5 volt drop, then if anything else in in the circuit (black/y) it would also have a bad ground.

The frame of the bike and engine are all negative or ground in the entire system so to me it does not matter where or how its hooked up as long as its a good clean solid connection. I even thought of cleaning the mount, bolts and frame of the bike so the reg/rec had a good chassis ground too. I do this frequently. Clean off the paint from a component and make sure the case is grounded well to the frame where I clean off the paint too.

I would like to see where the black/yellow wire comes from. I have not looked yet. Been away on a 3 day 4 state 1,000 mile ride on a different bike. Tomorrow its back to the KLX riding it to work.

I would like to hear from anybody that does this and the results.

David

 

so today I just removed the black and yellow wire from the white clip, not cutting anything and tucked it aside then created a new ground wire by removing a wire from an old clip (I had tons of old vw crap laying around) plugged it into the slot and ground it to the motor. I can't get away to test it today so I'll find out on my ride to work tomoorw it is fixed it. I figure this way if it doesn't work then I'll remove the new ground and plug back in the old one.

Thanks I'll keep you all posted.

 

I have taken several rides since the re-grounding. The problem for me was most noticable when coming from a complete stop and running up through the gears. You could really feel the bike surging between the 6 and 7,000 RPM range. This has totally gone away. I have also tried to vary the speeds and RPM's while riding on the highway. I have also not been able to reproduce any surging at any speeds or RPM range.

 

It might come from here: https://www.kawasakiforums.com/forum...l-about-34719/